The Ambush
by Nightheart
Summary: Repost. Lime. Trowa has until Valentines Day to lure out his reluctant sweetheart. It's not a question of if, but of how long he can last before his conquest catches on...


Aleisha Kirby Normal Aleisha Kirby 5 39 2006-02-15T01:54:00Z 2006-02-15T02:30:00Z 1 7359 41951 personal 349 98 49212 10.2625 BestFit Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 H

e dotted small kisses along her jaw-line, paused to nibble at her earlobe, and continued down her throat until he reached the place where neck and shoulder joined, he lipped lightly at the back of her neck and felt her breathing quicken as she shivered. He moved across the back of her neck to her other side, working his way back up her throat, feeling the had beat of her pulse beneath his lips. A silken waterfall of golden hair like buckwheat honey tickled across his bare chest as he held her from behind, she reached her hands up to comb softly at his scalp, tilting her head back farther against his shoulder, her lips parted and her eyes closed begging for kisses. Deciding against a direct onslaught at that stage, he brought his hands around and up past the swell of her hips, smothing across her trim flat waist to cup her breasts against the silk barrier of cloth that was the blouse she wore. Through the silk he could feel the folds of lace that was her bra, and he pressed, eliciting another breathy sigh from her. He'd waited for this, and was going to take his time... He brushed his lips over hers, feather-light, barely touching; she struggled to turn and face him but he held her in place. Her lips sought his but he stayed just out of her reach. She'd been the clueless ingénue for so long; misinterpreting his burning glances of desire in her direction, misunderstanding the dark glint that had entered his gaze whenever he looked over her form in those modest little suits she wore. Let her know what it felt like to crave without satiety for a time. But all too soon his own desire overtook him and he turned her to begin his explorations in earnest, tilting her body back to lie before him with every intention of sating their twin passions. Now.

The shrill shrieks that sounded in his ears were not the cries of a lust filled lover that he wanted to hear, but rather the sounding of his alarm clock warning him that it was time to awaken for his shift. Trowa growled and slammed his hand on the snooze button closing his eyes even as the sweet sultry dream faded. There was one very important detail that was not fading however and he growled once more as his entire body was tense with arousal. Damn it! Not again!

He sighed a little as he rousted himself for bed and towards the shower; the day waited for no-one really. Trowa was just damned lucky that he was only a seasonal member of the Preventors Special Response Team and didn't have to put up with that being saddled with a partner non-sense in order to go on missions because there was no way he'd be able to keep the fact that he had been enduring erotic dreams of a (currently) unattainable target from someone he had to be around 24/7. He'd just finished off a mission investigating one of Romafellers supposedly suspended Black Projects; (which hadn't been suspended at all of course) and he'd handed in his report yesterday only to have it handed back to him by his instructor as being incomplete and unsatisfactory.

Yes, that's right... he, Trowa Barton, now had an instructor! Well, really he wasn't the only one... but as the specialist in military infiltration among the five pilots Lady Une had deemed it a wise idea for him to attend specialized Preventor training courses on covert intelligence gathering. At first he'd grumbled a little internally at the implication that he, a former Gundam Pilot who had even fooled Lady Une at one point, would somehow be found lacking in his own area of expertise; the grumbles faded when he got a look at his instructor. He and a few other promising individuals (including Duo and Hilde as it turned out) got further instruction by a seasoned veteran of many forms of espionage.

His new instructor had a list of credentials as long as his arm. Early training in the Alliance Military, a successful campaign of covert operations against said military, formation of a covert resistance within the Sanc Kingdom, leadership of her own faction of spies and operatives within said resistance; armed battle against invading OZ in 195... and so on. He'd have respected her in-depth knowledge of all things espionage but for the fact that he had once been on the receiving end of some of her training. Yes, his new instructor was his old friend-turned-enemy Midii Une (no relation to Lady Une). In the beginning of his attendance to her lectures it had put a bit of a strain on the instructor-student relationship and he'd fiercely resented his mandatory attendance to her classes but it had worn off when he discovered that she really knew what she was about. Yes, she was his former enemy; but they'd fought on the same side at one point as well. She treated him no better or worse than any of the other "students" attending her lectures on espionage.

That in and of itself was a good thing; Trowa didn't want special treatment. However it had also lately become a point of frustration for him because while she maintained a professional distance from him as his instructor she was downright afraid of him as a person. It was a problem...

Trowa's eyes glittered like hard emeralds while he scanned her form perched behind a desk in an obscure office in a little known and little visited section of Preventors headquarters; Records.

"It's fixed," he said coolly, placing the report form back into her inbox.

"Thank-you," she absently, not looking up at him as she continued typing away on the keyboard, entering the particulars of the report she was currently working on into the database of the closed-circuit system used by Preventors. When she wasn't acting as an instructor Midii was a desk-bunny in Records; high security clearance was a prerequisite for that department and Midii was legally required to do work that would not put her at risk. She'd been legally emancipated in 196, then had sued for and gained sole custody of her younger brothers upon the death of her father, rather than see her family split up into different foster homes. Unfortunately for her, Child Protective Services forbade her from taking on the kind of work that would put her at risk to life and limb exceeding a thirty-five percent probability. That was why she was assigned no field-work despite the fact that she was eminently suited to it; it was too dangerous.

Trowa lingered for a moment more seeing if she'd look up at him, but she was engrossed in her work and not inclined to pay attention to anything else; probably most especially him.

He made her nervous; that much was apparent by her body language. For one thing she was shrinking back away from him a little (at least she was being subtle about it now, back when he'd gotten on active duty for the season a few months ago she'd visibly cringed away from him). Normally convivial and vivacious; Midii became silent and a little subdued whenever he entered her vicinity. He had a feeling that it had something to do with the history between the two of them but really; he was a soldier, it was wartime... one did what one had to in order to survive. Accepting that they had been enemies once and were no longer was part of what peacetime was about; but still Midii didn't seem to be willing to take his easy acceptance of the situation at face value. She acted like she expected him to at any moment pull out a gun and not miss that time. It disturbed him to tell the truth because while she was still afraid of him she wasn't going to let him near her...

It had taken him by surprise, this sudden (and apparently unrequited) passion he'd conceived for her. He hadn't thought much about the girl in the intervening years since they'd parted ways, or if he had it had always been with a vague distance. He hadn't expected to ever run across her again but as fate would have it, they had met. What was that famous quote? "Of all the two-bit gin-joints in all the world..." He had to admit, the first time he'd seen her after so long an intermission he'd have as soon walked right back out the door; but on a second glance... That second glance had been all it took.

His long-dormant amorous emotions had chosen that exact moment to wake up and start making up for lost time with a vengeance and he'd swiftly developed a quiet little obsession for his young instructor. He wasn't following her home at night or anything (okay, well he wasn't following her home most nights) nor was he sending her anonymous notes or gifts, but he'd taken a very quiet, very covert, very intense interest in her.

At first it had been comparatively mild; he'd just happen to note what times and where she preferred to take her lunch break and he'd coincidentally be nearby, or he might just happen to catch conversations between her and Sally (the two were, unsurprisingly, practically bosom companions) in which he might overhear interesting things.

In the beginning his mind had still been in control of matters and so the occurrences of those "coincidences" had been relatively few; being paid to stare at her during lecture for an hour or so every day hadn't exactly been a hardship for him either. But in a short time it was no longer enough. He'd been a little shocked when he'd actually zoned out during one of her lectures as his mind turned traitor on him and began filling in what she might look like with that cute little business suit she was wearing out of his way. As if that hadn't been bad enough, it had gotten steadily worse from that point on. Now he couldn't be in the same room with her without some form of fantasy involving the two of them wearing nothing but matching satisfied smiles. Hell, as his dreams had frequently and annoyingly demonstrated, he didn't even have to be in the same room with her!

Being hit broadside with a powerful case of lust for his temporary espionage instructor was bad enough but what made it worse was the fact that she was so oblivious. Every time she caught him staring (he couldn't _help_ it, dammit!) she thought he giving her the evil eye and she ran away from him. He couldn't approach her on anything personal because it made her immediately suspicious of him, and if he actually maneuvered a way to get some time alone with her when no-one was around she completely panicked!

While it might be cute, having Midii giving him that rabbit-trapped-in-the-gaze-of-a-predator look only inflamed his lust rather than dampened it. Yes he was a predator dammit and he wanted to utterly consume her... and then come back for seconds and thirds! In the world of the soldier there was the conqueror and the conquered; he wanted to completely and utterly own every part of her, and then he wanted to revel in her flesh to celebrate his victory and ravish her until he was beyond satisfied. He wanted to make love to her until he was the only thing she knew; wanted to make her cum, screaming his name until she was hoarse. He wanted to know every curve and hollow of her body in the most intimate way, brand her flesh with his own, fill her to bursting and make her beg for more. He wanted all of these things but unfortunately there was still one very large problem; she was utterly terrified of him.

It was a problem. If he told her directly how he felt about her she would only be certain that it was some form of trick on his part to get revenge. If he manipulated her into a position for him to seduce her (and he was _highly_ in favor of that particular strategy!) she'd be certain he was after something else, either a one night stand or an attempt to seduce her into giving him information. Trowa wasn't interested in a one-night stand, and with his security clearance any information she could give him he likely already knew. Midii wouldn't respond to that kind of logic unfortunately; she _knew_ he was hunting her, she could _sense_ it, she just misinterpreted the reasons for it. There had to be some kind of way to get her to lower her guard enough so that he could work a chink or two into her shields.

Trowa's ears suddenly perked up as he heard his name muttered. He couldn't see anyone around, but he was inside his office, the source however sounded like Duo.

"You're not there everyday so you don't see it," Duo was saying. "You should see the way he stares at her all through class. I'm telling you he's got a major thing for her."

Oh shit, someone had noticed! Great.

"Of course he stares at her in class Duo," Heero said flatly. "She's the instructor, he's being paid to pay attention to her."

"If I looked at my instructor that way and Hilde caught me, she'd braid my hair into dreads and tie them to the bars on the headboard. The lust-waves coming off him could fell an ox."

"You haven't spent a lot of time around Trowa, Duo," Heero replied, in a tone of condesending explanation. "You're just not used to his focused look. That's how he always looks when he's concentrating on something. And why are we even having this conversation? You should realize by now that I don't care who does what with how many oxen, it's none of your business."

Yeah Duo, it's none of your damn business, so drop it before you start a rumor, he thought. But then, Heero had to open his mouth and say

"Besides, Trowa and Midii are enemies; they have been since they were children. I overheard Midii tell Sally about it."

"Look buddy," Duo said. "You can say what you want, but I _know_... that's _not_ the kind of look a man gives his enemies."

Heero snorted softly in disbelief. Well, that was a small mercy; nobody believed him. Of course, it was also a depressing mercy... they all thought it so unlikely to happen that nobody believed Duo even when he had correctly discerned the truth. Trowa didn't know whether to feel relieved or depressed.

He turned his mind back to the problem at hand. How was he to get her to notice him (in a good way, for a change) enough that his interest in her would be returned? His body was still very much in favor of the idea of seducing her but there were still the afore-stated problems with that stratagem. He had to figure out a way to draw her out. Then he could reassure her that she need not fear him, and _then_ he could seduce, conquer and ravish to his hearts content. His body gave an impatient twinge at even the thought of the afore-mentioned activities. His mind was still in control, but only just. This was not his area of expertise and he was grasping at straws. He sat back at his desk to ruminate upon a strategy when his eye happened to fall upon his desk calendar; they were issued among the offices every year and this one followed some kind of heart theme for the month of February. Valentines Day.

Hey... there was an idea. To his knowledge the day was about flowers, chocolates and cards and was a clever plot on the part of candy companies, card companies and florists to keep afloat during the lean months after the major holiday season. And unless he was mistaken, it was an entirely accepted practice on this day for a hopeful male to attempt to make his interest blatantly known to (and then attempt to court) his chosen female. Yes, rather like an "open season" in hunting.

This was surely the way to win her at last! Midii would be expecting some form of offering surely, and when she received his offering she was bound to accept it without question! It was Valentines Day after all, and it was a tradition to go about dispensing favors at large. It was the perfect way to make his interest known in a favorable light without her suspecting some form of a trap. If he were perfectly honest with himself he would admit that he intended to snare her sooner rather than later, but he intended to make it a trap they would both enjoy.

Trowa might not understand love very well, but war was another matter entirely. Laying siege to a fortified stronghold was always a bad idea; if a pitched battle was out of the question then the enemy needed to be lured into a position of disadvantage and then conquered.

But then again, any gifts from him, despite the custom of Valentines Day, would immediate be considered suspect so...

He was right back to square one. He could not lure if his intended would not take the bait.

_What if she doesn't know who sent the gifts? _

Hm, the idea had merit. She'd be certain to grow curious; and like a rabbit scenting a carrot, draw near to investigate the prize. Trapping took time however, and Valentines was only one day. He didn't know if one day was a sufficient amount of time to make the bait go from 'enticing' to 'irresistible.' If he could work on it over a period of time her curiosity would consume her. And not only that, Midii liked presents; so showering her with offerings would have the doubled effect of not only making her curious as to who was sending her the presents but also make her very favorably inclined toward the unknown giver. His mind supplied him with yet another possible advantage; the gifts might just act as a sort of authentication for his intentions. Trowa intended to romance her; otherwise why would he go to all of this trouble to send her gifts?

There was a possible drawback to the scheme however; sending her romantic presents anonymously was certain to make her try to find out who the giver was. She was an ex-spy, a very good one at that, and she now specialized in covert intelligence gathering. He'd essentially be going up against a well-trained master in her field. Maybe she'd come to respect his skill... or maybe it would make her more suspicious. Of course if she didn't know it was him she'd have no reason to think that it was anything other than a shy attempt to woo her (which, essentially, it was). Besides, she might be the best Alliance-trained espionage agent but Trowa was willing to wager that he was better; and what better way to test his skills to see who was top dog than to actually engage her?

It was settled then. For the week preceding Valentines Day he would send her presents, lots and lots of presents, all of them anonymously. Even better, he'd contrive ways to get past her security and leave her personal gifts in places that most people didn't have access to. That would really drive her crazy! There was no reason why he couldn't have a little fun with this.

And everyone said he had no sense of humor.

**Day One**

Trowa was innocently sipping coffee in the break-room, just waiting. She was certain to be here at any moment, Midii was a creature of habit after all and it was her habit to share morning coffee and gossip with her best friend Sally (who was already in the room at that point). She was running a little behind this morning but that was only to be expected. The look on her face when she finally did show up however, was priceless.

"What's with that look?" Sally asked immediately. Midii was usually abnormally perky in the mornings, except on cloudy mornings and then she needed her pick-me-up. This morning she looked... disturbed.

"I woke up this morning," Midii started.

"That makes one of us," Sally grumbled taking a large gulp of her double.

"And I opened my eyes to discover that my bedroom had faced an ursine hostile take-over!"

"Huh?" Sally asked intelligently. "I'm not my best this early in the morning, could you translate please?"

"Bears Sally!" Midii said in exasperation. "Bears!"

"Ummmm ookaay..." obviously not comprehending her non-sequiter.

"Last night, don't ask me how they did it, but someone somehow snuck into my bedroom while I was sleeping and arranged over a hundred teddy bears of various shapes and sizes around my bedroom; even on my very bed! How? I don't get it! I'm a light sleeper and my security net was armed all last night! It's impossible I tell you! And not only that, apparently my mystery bear-giver is none other than Elvis!"

"Ladies and gentlemen Elvis has entered the building," Sally teased. Midii frowned in her direction.

Trowa thanked the powers for his expressionless mask because he was puffed up on the inside! It had been a long night and he had been certain he'd be caught at any moment. Midii was indeed a light sleeper, but they didn't call him the quiet one for nothing. Her security net had been the real challenge, he was lucky he was an acrobat because all of those damned lasers pointing this way and that had given him a real workout! He'd recognized the pattern quickly enough and those bears had been cleverly arranged in the "holes" but still, placing one hundred bears on her bed and around the room while dancing around the sensors had been no mean feat!

Trowa savored his victory as he listened to Midii rant to her friend Sally about the impossibility of it; she had designed that security net herself dammit! Funny, Relena hadn't made such a big deal when Heero had done the same thing; but then, Relena was a civilian and thus not accurately able to appreciate the amount of skill and effort that went into such an endeavor. Midii had built her net up from scratch and it was almost perfect... almost. Well, score one for him!

The fun did not end there however... oh no. Trowa followed at a discrete distance when Midii went to her office and waited out of eye shot. There was a moment of exquisite silence and then the sound of a frustrated scream. Yes, he had snuck past the security of the Preventors building and her own additional precautions inside her office to plant another hundred teddy bears to mock her. Then, the coup de grace; he'd left her a little love note (typed of course, not handwritten).

_Two hundred cute and cuddly bears _

_with_ _their round unblinking stares_

_get_ _quite an enchanting view_

_of_ _their lovely mistress new_

_but_ _to her cuteness, can't compare._

Okay, so Lord Byron he wasn't, still it was sure to drive her to distraction wondering who it was from, because it wasn't signed. Trowa was well pleased with himself; last night had gone off without a hitch and tonight was looking promising as well. He definitely had the cuddly stuffed animal option taken care of so the next logical step was obviously flowers... lots and lots of flowers. He hoped that she wasn't terribly fond of that living room because she wasn't going to be able to use it for at least a week.

He'd already deposited the flowers on-site, hidden away in her attic as a matter of fact. He'd anticipated that if he tried to sneak into her house while her guard was up he'd most definitely get caught by her so he'd been clever an planted some fingerprints on one of the bears knowing that she was bound to dust for prints and take it into the lab the next morning to run them. While she was running the prints he had snuck back inside her house, pulled out all of the flowers past her security net, and then rushed to work to make it here ahead of her. If only he dared plant a camera as well, he'd give a lot to see the look on her face.

One-upmanship aside, he was serious about this particular mission. One might not have guessed it from the playful nature of what probably looked to the outside observer like a series of practical jokes He hoped she didn't see it as a challenge although now that he thought about it, she probably would. Still, he had good motives; maybe they weren't the worlds most noble but it wasn't like he was interested in _only_ her body... that was just the extra incentive.

_Day Two_

"I love you Midii," the computer chirped cheerfully at her.

"Grrr," she gritted, glaring.

"Mystery admirer still at it?" Trowa asked innocently. He'd come to her office under the pretense of needing to add an addendum to a previous report he'd written for some new evidence that had recently come to his attention.

He couldn't help smirking a little at his handy-work; Heero might be pretty hot stuff when it came to hacking but Trowa was certainly no slouch either. Neither was Midii when it came down to cases... if there was a trick in the book she didn't know about it wasn't worth knowing. It had taken him all night to hack into her computer at work and change all of her settings! Now, whenever she opened up a file her computer said "Peekaboo! I like you!" and whenever she accessed a program it said "be mine!" and whenever she closed down a file or program her computer cheerfully let her know on no uncertain terms that it loved her. Now wasn't that sweet? Her screen saver was a little parade of wedding bells and balloons, her wallpaper was an animated rain of a thousand tiny little hearts, all of her icons had been changed to messages of love and her startup and shut down noises were the chorus to the remake of some old boy-band song "As long as you love me."

"Yes," she growled. "He's either a romantic or a sadist."

"You don't like it?" he questioned, trying not to sound injured. He'd worked so hard at it too!

"The rest I could forgive, but subjecting me to boy-band music? No."

Uh-oh. She was really going to hate him then, because he'd already changed the settings on her security net! He'd trained her laser sensors to draw hearts on the wall and messages of love. He'd reprogrammed her alarm to announce that it loved her every time she walked into a new room. All of this in addition to the mountains of candies and chocolates he had ordered delivered to her house that evening. She thought she was getting a lead; the delivery boy was going to "blab" the account number of the person who had ordered the gift sent to her. She'd trace down the dummy account to discover her hidden valentine message for the day; her home computer would be flooded with valentines electronic mail cards from her secret admirer.

Trowa took one look at Midii's face and nearly lost all composure for the first time in his entire life. He coughed; just barely, but he coughed. And if there was a small smirk behind his cough well... his fist was hiding it. The poor dear looked so frustrated.

"Did you nab him yet?" Sally asked, probably already knowing the answer by the look on her face.

"No," Midii pouted. She had a cute pout.

"Has it driven you crazy yet?" Sally asked, clearly enjoying herself.

"Damn near it," she admitted, but, oddly enough she was smiling. Was that good or bad?

"Ummmm, you look happy," Sally said. "Any clues as to who it could be then?"

"Not a one," Midii said cheerfully.

"Then what's with the smile?" Sally asked.

"This is the first time in a very long time that any one has gotten the jump on me so very thoroughly," Midii informed her.

"Really?" Sally said, inwardly Trowa echoed the sentiment.

"Yes, I usually have my fellow within two days, same goes for information gathering." Her tone was matter of fact, she wasn't boasting, she was simply that good. "Last night he set up a dummy account that I couldn't trace! It had valentines cards! How exciting!"

"You get valentines cards every year," Sally pointed out. "More since you started teaching."

"Yes but never from anyone more clever than I am!" Midii said, as if cluing someone in who was densely missing the point. "He's got a sense of humor too! I wonder what he looks like, I hope he's cute!"

"You're not serious!" Sally said. "He snuck into your house in the middle of the night; he's probably a pervert."

"If he'd been a pervert he'd have tried to sneak into bed with me," Midii pointed out logically. "And besides, I haven't had a real challenge like this in a long time. Clearly he understands me well, and knows that I like the thrill of intellectual stimulation."

"Or maybe he just heard that old rumor that you wouldn't date anyone who couldn't out-fox you first," Sally rebutted.

"Does it matter?" Midii said. "I mean, how can I be expected to give my heart to someone who can't match me wit for wit? I'd feel like I was in a lop-sided relationship and that's no fun. This man is clearly my equal."

"You don't even know who he is, if it is indeed a he," Sally said mischievously.

"Well last time I checked there weren't any rumors that I swung the opposite way despite my long-time self-imposed bachelorhood," Midii said. "Besides, you can tell a lot about a person from the information littering the ground."

"Oh? Enlighten us oh inspector Gidget."

"No Gidget remarks!" Midii snapped. "Any way as I was saying... He snuck into my room past my security net repeatedly which tells me, naturally that he knows a thing or two about by-passing security. He deposited those bears about my room which tells me that he must be exceptionally agile. I discovered fresh flower petals in the attic which tells me where he hid them so he's no stranger to planning ahead. Then there's that number he did on my computer, both of them in fact, which tells me that not only does he know how to bypass a security system but he's also an adept computer hacker."

"A computer hacker with terrible taste in music no less," Sally mentioned.

"Terrible," Midii agreed. "Moving on, there's that dummy account. The work of a master; I couldn't even have done better myself. He erased all of his tracks using a chow mein with a rather unusual twist, instead of deleting all of the original data entered into the count it was overwritten with a bypass command that would re-route the next user to sign-in. It took me to another account he had obviously already set up for me and every time I tried to back out of it I'd get inundated with love pop-ups. Ingenious I tell you!"

"Well, you certainly seem very enthusiastic," Sally said. "Is that because you haven't figured out who it is yet, or is it simply the fact that he flattering you shamelessly?"

"A little of both," Midii admitted, grinning. "I hope he's cute."

"Riiight," Sally said dryly. "And what if he just wants to sleep with you?"

Midii's grin widened.

"I hope he's cute."

Both girls giggled over that and Trowa's hopes for the future soared.

**Day Four**

Trowa had to smile a little; they were discussing him again although they didn't know it. He'd already done the flowers, the stuffed bears and the chocolates and had begun to worry that he'd run out of romantic gifts to give her, so he'd decided to step things up a bit and make the gifts a little more personal. He wasn't leaving her lingerie or anything like that; much as he wanted to he figured that sending her such intimate gifts with a sexual connotation would probably make her wary of the giver.

No, what he'd meant by personal gifts were gifts that he'd discerned that she favored due to careful study of her, left in unlikely places; all of them with valentines day cards attached. He'd left a bottle of her favorite perfume in her (very very locked) desk drawer, he'd left a knit sweater in her favorite color in the place she habitually sat to eat her bagel before work, he'd left a very romantic package of bullets to match the particular kind of gun she favored tucked inside her shoulder holster, and a cleaning kit to match it lying next to her computer.

"Sounds a little creepy," Sally said. "I mean, he not only has access to all of these places but he knows you frequent them."

"I'll admit, that does worry me a little," Midii replied. "But only because peacetime seems to have made me soft; I've become a bit of a creature of habit. That's not good for a spy's life expectancy. Predictable usually means dead in my old line of work."

"I could see how that might be a concern for you, but I'm more concerned for the fact that he has all of this intimate knowledge of you and you haven't noticed an observer. Midii, it's not like you to be unobservant."

"Could I be losing my edge do you think?" Midii said worriedly.

Trowa adeptly threw a pencil at her, she caught the movement and the "knife" (which was what the pencil resembled) in a split second.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Trowa was calmly. "By the look of things you're as sharp as ever."

That was his way of reassuring her. He wouldn't want his attempt to romance her to make her loose confidence in herself. She frowned at him for his perceived slight. It was a good thing he'd decided to give her the gifts anonymously, if he'd signed his name to them she'd be certain that he was toying with her. Well he was; cats played with thier food before they devoured it. He fully intended to devour her in his own sweet time.

"Anyway," Midii said, shrinking back from him a little. Damn, she was still nervous around him. "Putting the fact that he knows all this stuff about me aside, I can respect someone who does his homework. I can't stress the importance of recon enough to my students. Hey! D'you think it might be one of them?"

"Your students?" Sally inquired. "Most of them are nearly twice your age."

"Naturally," Midii replied. "Most espionage Preventors is currently involved in is industrial espionage. Company heads tend to trust older men and women as opposed to younger. They all tend to treat me like their younger kid outside the classroom and almost all of them are married. Most of the younger ones I'm currently teaching are from the Alliance kiddie-corps anyway. I suppose it might be one of them, but I doubt it."

"Why's that?" Sally asked.

"Well, to put it bluntly, they're simply not adept enough to put one past me. Most of them are lucky decoys, and the few with real talent and training are already involved elsewhere. Besides I know all of the ex-Alliance members pretty well and it's not one of them; if it was I'm adept enough at reading people, I'd be able to tell. There's only one person I've never been able to read."

She flicked a quick glance over at him. Trowa stood still, sipping his coffee, not reacting at all.

_Could she suspect?_

"So when does your mystery Romeo reveal himself?" Sally asked.

"I would assume Valentines Day," Midii said. "That means I have two days to figure out who it is before then."

Heh, good luck, he thought. Trowa should have known better than to wish benedictions to his prey, for the universe had a perverse sense of humor. And so, of course, did his prey.

Trowa was waiting, like a cat at a mouse-hole, for the seeking whiskers of his chosen mouse to come twitching from the hidey-hole to test the winds. The invitation he'd deposited in his latest gift had named a particular restaurant at a particular time on a particular day. The restaurant being the five-star Starlight Lounge in the equally five start Starlight Plaza Hotel, the time being eight o'clock, and the day being today; Valentines Day.

For the final two days his sweetheart had been inundated with candles, wine, cheese and fruits baskets. Despite being clearly frustrated by how they had arrived in the places they had Midii was clearly far from displeased by his offerings. A final bottle of wine last evening had been left by her bed with a note (daringly handwritten this time) detailing that they were at last to meet face to face. It was even odds which of the two of them was anticipating it more. Trowa was tired of dancing about the barn, wooing was fine but sending gifts anonymously (while entertaining) was getting him ultimately nowhere. He intended to be blunt with her, she knew very well what he was like; they had been friends when they were children so she shouldn't be surprised that he was forward.

She wasn't here though! The hour was nearly at hand and she hadn't appeared. He didn't see her anywhere in the vicinity either; it would be in keeping with her character that she would wait to see who it was before making the final approach but she wasn't waiting about.

Then, suddenly, to his utter and complete dismay; his cell phone rang. It was his work phone too so he couldn't just ignore it. He flipped it open to check the number... SRT leader Sally Po, shit. It was probably a mission, talk about lousy timing! She would think he stood her up, but he couldn't just ingnore the summons either. He pressed send to contact Sally.

"Sally," he said by way of greeting. "Is there any way I could delay this for the time being? I have a previous engagement."

"Sorry Trowa," Sally said. "No dice."

"I'll report to headquarters then," he said in resignation. He was stuck for it. He'd just have to leave he a note for her and pray she'd be willing to understand. He hoped she didn't think he was standing her up, but she probably would. Damn! ANd he'd been looking forward to getting things out in the open between them.

"Actually I need you to report to Towering Heights," Sally replied.

"Towering Heights? But that's out in the middle of no-where," Trowa said. It sounded fishy to him.

"Exactly," Sally replied briskly. "There's to e an ambush out there tonight, a purely local affair but the Preventors have been asked to take a look at the case just to be sure it doesn't have a bearing on a larger case."

Trowa kept his sigh internal. Usually, local law enforcement would sooner but their hands in a blender than involve larger national agencies in their cases; but there were some local law enforcers who had a knack for recognizing when one of their cases coincided with a larger series of events and would put aside their own territorial squabbles to do the right thing and call in an expert. It was probably some cop who'd busted a couple of guys for smuggling drugs and discovered that they were smuggling something a great deal hotter. Weapons were a rare commodity these days and thanks to the Preventors were getting rarer; rare in the smuggling world meant lots of money. Well, he could go and take a look; it was what they were paying him for when they didn't need him on a larger mission.

He quickly wrote a note apologizing to Midii for not being able to make it that evening, but he'd been unavoidably called away. He hoped she'd let him make it up to her; he was sure that from her prospective this was not an auspicious start to a relationship. Well, there was no help for it. He'd just have to roll with the changes.

When he arrived on the site specified, a resort rented out seasonally tucked away on the side of a mountain, he was made suspicious by the lack of presence. There weren't any cars! If this really was a police bust, even if it had been early in that afternoon, there would be cop cars still at this hour. There was the time it took to round up all of the smugglers that could be found and then the need to arrest them for questioning, then the need to photograph the area, search everything thoroughly, and only then could the bureaucrats have their fun by naming, placing and cataloguing everything onsite to be added into the massive amount of paperwork that was essentially what any military or law enforcement agency was run on. There were supposed to be people here, but there were none... Trowa's instincts screamed ambush. He pulled on his Preventors jacket and checked his side arm before cutting his engine and climbing out. He didn't see any movement in the bushes around him, and when he looked down at the gravel path there was no sign of the tire marks that accompanied a massive invasion of police presence. His instincts were screaming that it was a trap, an ambush...

He toed cracked the door open, pulling out his piece and holding it down. His eyes scanned the dim interior... nothing. No sound, no movement. Maybe Sally had given him the wrong place.

Suddenly there was a movement behind him and he felt two hands cover his eyes. He reacted instantly and without thinking. He threw the attacker around his shoulder and to the ground then had his gun pointed to the attackers head.

"Don't move," he said.

"Gah... I'd forgotten how _quick_ you are," a familiar voice said from at his feet. He crouched down, staring a little in disbelief.

"Um. Surprise. Happy Valentines Day," she said, smiling winsomely. He helped her up to his feet, his mind still racing with how it was, precisely, that she was here when she was supposed to be...

"The call," he surmised.

"Wasn't Sally, yes," she admitted readily. "I used a voice coder. I thought about letting her in on all of the fun but then I thought she probably wouldn't go along with it."

Midii hit the lights the reveal the interior of the resort tricked out for a romantic gettaway; rose petals scattered everywhere, wine cooling in a pitcher next to two stems, tidbits of fruit waiting on a tray nearby, and other romantic things. She had obviously prepared an ambush for him alright...

"You figured it out," Trowa said, a little miffed. He was certain that he had covered all of his tracks, how had she known it was him?

"Yes," she said smiling. "And since you've made your interest plain, I should let you know right now that I intend to have my wicked way with you."

She looked entirely sensual when she said that and Trowa felt heat and desire rush though him. Although who would be having their way with whom was a topic that would probably be debated for some time. The most he'd hoped for this evening was to have dinner with her and she wouldn't be too shocked or intimidated by his blunt admission of interest. He hadn't thought she'd respond in kind, and certainly hadn't thought that she' counter and raise the ante so to speak.

She led him over to the small intimate table for two that was set up with dinner waiting. Midii informed him that she'd made it herself. She was a good cook, he'd give her that.

"How did you know it was me?" he asked, partly as polite dinner conversation and partly because he was dying to know.

"One of my first instructors had been a police detective before he'd joined with the military," Midii said by way of explanation. "And one of the things that he told me was that as a general rule serial bombers, arsonists, serial murderers and others like them, okay well you're nothing like them but bear with me here, anyway, most people who have done something, gotten away with it and intend to continue getting away with it tend to stick around the scene of the crime afterwards so they can gloat on their victory."

Trowa understood. He'd suddenly developed the habit of taking coffee in the break-room with Midii and Sally right around the time the presents started to arrive for the purpose of gathering information about how she felt about them.

"You're a creature of habit," Midii pointed out bluntly with a triumphant smile that he fully intended to pay her back for later. "Any changes in those habits have a reason behind them."

"It could have been coincidence," he pointed out.

"It could have been," she allowed. "But then you made the mistake of writing a note to me in your own handwriting, and that's how I knew."

"You know my handwriting?"

"You forget where I work," Midii said. "I know everyone's handwriting. All reports are submitted by the Preventors in their own handwriting and unfortunately for me I have a highly trained memory as well as an eye for detail. I can place all of the active field agents by their handwriting alone and tell you all of the missions they have been on over the course of the past year."

"Ah I see," Trowa said, nodding. "And how did you arrange all of this on such short notice?"

It was Valentines day and most hotels, motels, and weekend spa's had been rented out months in advance. Getting not only a resort all to themselves as well as apparently fully stocked for a lovers tryst was a small miracle.

Midii just smiled inscrutably and said

"That is a secret."

He let it go. He had more interesting pursuits on his mind for that evening. Midii must have seen something of his intent written on his face (finally!) for she looked down and blushed hotly, gulping down her wine like she was hoping to reach the courage in the bottom of the glass. It appeared that he still made her nervous, but now for an entirely different reason.

He reached across the table to lay his hand gently on hers.

"There's no reason for you to fear me," he said softly.

"I'm not afraid," Midii replied just as softly. "Despite everything I've never feared you; not even then. But it's just that you look so intimidating now."

"Intimidating?" he questioned.

"Well, okay part of it is that you're so tall. But I guess it's mostly that I always feel so vulnerable when you're near."

"Strong emotions create vulnerabilities," Trowa said. "It's the first thing a soldier learns. I'll tell you the first thing I learned as a civilian though."

"What's that?"

"They're worth it."

Midii smiled warmly up at him, Trowa took both of her hands in his and led her over to the fireplace which already had a warm fire going in it leaving the dinner behind, forgotten. They sprawled out lazily on wide flat cushions in front of the fire and Trowa popped the cork out of the champagne. They laughed a little together as the stuff fizzed over and he tried, belatedly, to catch it in the glasses. Trowa rarely imbibed and Midii looked small enough to be a lightweight so the stems were only filled halfway. Once he handed her the glass however, nothing further was said as they both stared at the flames of the fire. He caught her looking sideways at him out of the corner of her eye several times and each time he caught her she blushed and looked embarrassed. Finally, Midii gave in and broke the silence.

"I brought you out here to ambush you and carry you off to my nest like some mate-devouring spider," she confessed forwardly. "But now that you're here with me I suddenly wonder if maybe you're not... _interested_?"

Trowa blinked in surprise. She didn't think he was interested? When he could barely think straight because so much of his attention was taken up by keeping himself from pouncing upon her? Well, he'd just have to correct the impression.

"A sad misunderstanding," Trowa said, slowly moving over to her. "And unfortunate."

He continued as she backed down just a little, her eyes wide. He took the drink from her and slid it onto a nearby table so it was out of his way and there were no distractions then pressed his advantage until she was prone beneath him, her hair fanned out in a pool of shining sunlight around her.

"I'm not known for my knack for self-expression, quite the opposite as you know."

Midii nodded, swallowing, as she stared up at him in rapt fascination like a mouse staring into the eyes of a cobra. His pulse was racing by now and the better parts of many of his dreams flashing back at him to tempt him further. He wondered, briefly, which of them he should engage in... first.

"Funny, I don't have any problems understanding you."

That was because actions always spoke louder than words, and he was a man of action. He leaned down to close the distance between the two of them sealing his mouth softly over hers. Midii lost that timidity that always seemed to mark her character when she felt out of her depth, she responded very much in kind and the kiss was deepened.

From there on no words were needed.

…

Trowa was basking, he knew full well he was basking and if he'd been a cat he'd have been purring as well. The bed was rumpled from their lovemaking but he could swear that he'd never slept in a more comfortable place. Midii was sleeping peacefully with her head resting on his chest and his arms wrapped securely around her. She felt warm and soft and smooth entangled with him between the sheets of Egyptian cotton, her silky hair turning to soft gold in the one weak ray of water dawn sunlight that snuck its way past the velvet curtains of their room. Their commingled scents were at the same time heavy and sweet; an intoxicatingly peaceful perfume. Trowa felt a very peaceful feeling settle over him, a lethargic, heavy pleasantness that came with feeling utterly and in all ways content.

Their lovemaking the previous night had felt like both the familiarity of long-parted lovers and the newness of that first burning, all-consuming passion. He was well and truly sated and was content to simply lie there with his arms wrapped around her and let his mind drift for a while. There would be ample time in a while to satisfy their passions again, he would make certain of it, but for now he would just lie there with the sensation of her steady heartbeat pulsing against his skin and the soft sound of her breathing lulling him into a quiet drifting daze.

He looked sleepily down at his lover and realized with soft wonder that he now had another tie that did not include war; he was her lover. Even in the circus most knew him as either a capable soldier, a Gundam pilot, an SRT member in Preventors; only Catherine knew him as her brother. It felt good and only added to the general feeling of rightness and well being that pervaded the room. She made a small sleepy contented noise and rubbed her face against his chest for a moment before drifting back off into restful sleep. Trowa let his own eyes drift slowly closed, surrendering to sleep at last.

The End

Ah, sometimes, there's nothing like a re-post. This is my favorite Valentines fic that I've written so I thought it was worth a repost (something I rarely ever do) just in case someone missed it the first time around. I hope your repeat readers enjoyed it just as much now as then and I hope you new readers liked it too, please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own nuthin'.


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